The day started out well but still overcast. It had rained during the night but since Lucy and I had stayed inside, all my gear was still dry as well.
Our first interesting encounter was a sheriff who pretended he wasn't incredulous over my journey and helped me out with directions and upcoming road conditions; dirt. True to his word the majority of eastern Homochitto National Forest are dirt roads. Even worse, none of them are marked.
Once we got through the first section of Homochitto, we came to a paved road (unmarked) and rested for awhile. I wasn't sure exactly where I was according to my directions or the Homochitto map I had but I decided I should keep going in the same direction I thought I should be going.
Soon, an elderly hunter who's wife had grown up near the area passed by and offered a ride. I really wanted something salty and something to drink other then water, so he gave us a ride to a convenience store on 33 a good 9-10 miles away. We chatted for awhile about the area. After he dropped us off at the store we sat outside with our snack and another elderly gentleman who had lived in the area his entire life stopped to chat for awhile. He directed us to a good place to camp for the night, about 11 miles away.
Lucy and I headed off after our break but about 6-7 miles down the road near Garden City I came across a young black lab on the side of the road that had been hit by a car. He was still alive but I could tell he was in pain and I didn't know how bad his injuries were. I didn't see any external bleeding and hoped all he needed was surgery for a hip; a common ailment for dogs hit by cars. I called a volunteer at St. Francis to see if she knew of any shelters or sanctuaries in the area. Unfortunately, there are no animal welfare agencies in this part of Mississippi. Two volunteers from St. Francis drove up to get the dog and took him to a vet in McComb. During this time, it had started to rain and the temp had dropped. By the time I got to my campsite Lucy and I were soaked.